


5 Times: The Anderhummels and Their Body Mods

by projekt45



Series: The Adventures of the AnderHummels and Friends! (dads!klaine) [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Body Modification, Fluff, Future Fic, Humor, M/M, Original Character(s), Piercings, Pride, Tattoos, blaine has a thing for body mods, continuation of 5x05, dads!Klaine, its got bette midler, klaine with kids!, married!klaine, newlywed!klaine, poor audrey, thanks adam levine, the Anderhummels love pinterest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26011702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/projekt45/pseuds/projekt45
Summary: Just some ideas I came up with surrounding klaine and their kids and their relationship with body mods.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Series: The Adventures of the AnderHummels and Friends! (dads!klaine) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1887946
Kudos: 15





	5 Times: The Anderhummels and Their Body Mods

**Author's Note:**

> TW: blood, tattooing, piercing
> 
> Welcome to my first dads!klaine and 5 fic! For as long as I can remember, I've had a love and fascination with body modifications, so when I saw the episode of Glee where Kurt got a tattoo and piercing, I knew I had to write Blaine's reaction. All the other stories were just me bouncing off that idea (plus Kurt and Blaine being dads bc why not). I have so many more ideas for dads!klaine (and regular klaine, dw) fics and I can't wait to write them. This was insanely fun to write, so I hope you guys have fun reading! Enjoy!

**Kurt**  
“I’m gonna go Skype with Blaine and show him my new tat and piercing. Maybe if I play a little Maroon Five I’ll get cyber lucky,” Kurt says, heading to his bedroom and pushing the curtain separating his room and the rest of the apartment closed behind him. 

He changes into some comfy clothes and sits on his bed, grabbing his laptop and headphone from his bag while texting Blaine.

 **Kurt** : Are you free to Skype? I just got home and I have something to show you.  
**Blaine** : Yeah sure, lemme just change into some comfier clothes rq and get situated and I’ll call you when I’m ready

Kurt lays in bed, moving his swollen tongue around in his mouth, feeling the ball of the barbell knocking against his teeth and scrolling through social media while waiting for his fiancé. He didn’t think about it before since the decision to get the piercing was so unplanned, but he wonders if the jewelry could cause any damage to his teeth.

He hears the ringtone on his laptop as he closes Instagram and answers Blaine’s call.

“Hey babe! How was your day?” Blaine asks on the other line, dressed in a McKinley t-shirt and sweats, his damp hair starting to curl from his shower.

“Hey! It was pretty good, I didn’t have as many classes today, so I had some free time.” Kurt answers, trying to mask the slight lisp caused by the piercing

Blaine immediately notices the change in his speech. “Is everything okay? Did you hurt your mouth or something? You have a bit of a lisp.”

“No! Well, not unintentionally. I uh.. I did a thing.” Kurt replies, sticking out his tongue, displaying the silver ball.

“Holy shit! What... when...why?!” Blaine says, taken aback both by the fact that his fiancé got a piercing in the first place, and also how good it looks on him. He never found piercings particularly attractive. That was, however, before Kurt stuck out his tongue.

“Okay so here's the thing,” Kurt begins, seeing the flustered expression on Blaine’s face. He never thought Blaine would be the type to have a thing for piercings, but judging from the blush forming on his cheeks, he was wrong.

“I went over to get this tattoo I got fixed and-” Kurt’s cut off by Blaine.

“Wait, what!? A tattoo!!?” Blaine yells, raising his eyebrows, a surprised grin plastered across his face. He never pegged Kurt as the tattoo type, but he thinks it suits him. He didn’t know how he felt about piercings before tonight, but he had definitely had a thing for tattoos previously ever since he discovered Adam Levine. There was just so sexy about someone having art permanently on their bodies. The thought of Kurt with tattoos immediately makes his cheeks and tips of his ears with lust.

“Yeah, I didn’t tell you?” Kurt asks, taking off his shirt. Blaine feels his cheeks getting warmer and warmer as he gazes at his fiancé on the screen in front of him, completely topless. It’s not like he hasn’t seen Kurt like this before, but everytime he does, he has to take a second to admire Kurt’s beautiful form. 

“Yeah, Rachel and I pretty much said ‘fuck it’ a few nights ago and went out to get tattoos. She chickened out as I was getting mine, though,” Kurt says, giggling at Blaine’s flustered reaction to his body modifications. 

“I hate to say it, but that kinda sounds like her. What’d you get?” Blaine asks excitedly.

“Okay, so I originally planned on getting ‘It Gets better’ on my back, but I typed it out wrong and without realizing it, told the tattoo artist to tattoo ‘Its get better’,” Kurt pauses as he sees Blaine erupt in giggles. “What? I thought I’d spelled it right, and I may have been a bit tipsy. Leave me alone!” Kurt defends with an embarrassed smile on his face.

“I’m sorry! It just seems so unlike you to get a spontaneous tattoo while drunk. The misspelling is the icing on the cake.” Blaine says. “Now quit teasing and show me your tattoo!”

“Okay! Okay,” Kurt says as he turns around so his back is facing the screen. “Can you see it?”

“It’s Got Bette Midler,” Blaine reads out slowly, the low lighting making seeing the ink difficult. “Not what I expected, but I like it!”

“Thanks, the tattoo artist had to get a little creative with the phrasing when he was fixing it, but overall I like it. Bette Midler’s a queen, so why not, y’know?”

“What made you want to get a tattoo and piercing in the first place?” Blaine asks as Kurt turns back around to face him.

“Originally, Rachel and I did it to sort of rebel against who we used to be, I guess? But after I went to get the tattoo fixed, I realized that after Finn’s death, I was kinda out of it, and the tattoo and piercing kinda brought me back to life. Does that make sense?” 

Blaine nods, noticing that ever since his brother’s passing, he’s often caught Kurt zoned out and acting distant. He always figured that it was because of Finn, so he decided not to bring it up to Kurt, hoping that it would pass, so Kurt telling him this was just confirmation.

“Yeah, I mean, that makes complete sense. Finn was a big part of your life, and it totally makes sense that you would kinda be out of it after you lost him. I don’t understand how a tattoo and piercing shocked you out of it, but I’m not opposed to it as long as it makes you happy.”

“So what did you think of the tattoo?” Kurt asks. He didn’t think of Blaine’s reaction when he got the tattoo until Rachel mentioned that he had a thing for Adam Levine. 

“Honestly, I think it’s hot. You knew how I felt about tattoos, but I never really considered piercings until now. Now that I see it on you, I have a new-found appreciation for it.” Blaine replies, trying to avoid eye contact with his fiancé and feeling his cheeks and ears heat up yet again.

“Really? Well that’s good to know. I was planning on getting more tattoos anyway.” Kurt says, lowering his voice and gazing at his fiancee with longing in his eyes.

“You’re such a tease, you know that?” Blaine replies, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, but you love it.” Kurt retorts, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I do. Maroon 5?”.

“Maroon 5.” Kurt echoes as he and Blaine get undressed.

 **Kurt and Blaine**  
“Have you ever thought about matching tattoos?” Blaine asks as he and Kurt got ready for bed one Saturday night, exhausted from the events of the past week.

“Yeah, I think they’re cute,” Kurt replies while brushing his teeth, which is true. He’d wanted to get another tattoo after the ‘It’s Got Bette Midler’ incident, but he didn’t know what he wanted. He’d always been one to fully think things through, going with the safest and most sound option, but that way of thought never really applied to Blaine. 

“Would you ever be down to get one with me?” Blaine asks, pulling the covers aside and climbing into bed.

“Yeah, I’d love to, but what would you wanna get?” Kurt asks. He’d always found the idea of a matching tattoo with your significant other super cute, but before Blaine, he didn’t think it'd be a reality for him. He’d heard horror stories of couples who’d got each other’s names or other types of matching tattoos and broke up horribly, but he didn’t think that’d be him and Blaine. It’d been a year since they’d gotten married, and they’d been happier than ever. He thought that if he were to get a matching tattoo with anyone other than his parents or his kids, it’d be with his husband. 

“I was toying around with the idea of getting ‘Courage.’ in each other’s handwriting in my head for a while. Our bullying stories were the first thing we kind of bonded over, and I think I'd be nice to have a little piece of you, encouraging me to be the best in whatever I do, wherever I go, even if I don't have my ring on. What do you think?” Blaine asks. He’d been thinking about getting tattoos with his husband for a few months now and had just worked up the courage to ask him about it tonight.

“Blaine, that’s so sweet. I’d love to,” Kurt says, going back to the bathroom to spit and put his toothbrush away. It's a little thing, but it always upset him that he’d had to take his ring off whenever he washed his hands or showered. He loved having a constant reminder that he belonged to someone who loved him like Blaine did, and he thought a tattoo in his handwriting would fix his problem while simultaneously being the cutest thing ever.

“I’ll call the shop I got the Bette Midler tattoo at on Monday to see if they have any openings,” Kurt says, climbing into bed next to his husband and positioning himself with his head on Blaine’s chest.

****

“Thank you so much for breakfast, Babe, it was delicious,” Blaine says, putting his and Kurt’s dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Both Kurt and Blaine were thankful that this semester, Blaine had most of his classes in the morning, and Kurt had his in the afternoon, so normally, Kurt would make breakfast, Blaine would make lunch, and they’d work together on dinner. 

“Of course,” Kurt says, looking down at his phone to check the time. “Hey, don’t you have class in like twenty minutes?” Kurt asks, not wanting Blaine to be late.

“What time is it?”

“9:45,” Kurt says, closing his phone.

“Shit! Yeah, I do. Okay, I’ve gotta go, I’ll meet you back here for lunch, okay?” Blaine says, grabbing his bookbag and putting his shoes on. 

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to call the tattoo shop in a bit to make an appointment. Have a good day, I love you!” Kurt says, giving his husband a quick peck on the lips.

“I love you too, I’ll see you in a bit!” Blaine replies, making his way out the door and closing it behind him.

After Kurt finishes loading and starting the dishwasher, he settles on the couch and grabs his phone, dialing the number of the tattoo shop.

“Blackpoint Tattoos and Piercings, how may I help you?” Louis, the man who did Kurt’s first tattoo answers.

“Hi, Louis, it’s Kurt!”

“Oooh right, the Bette Midler guy, I remember you! What’s up?”

“I was actually wondering if you had any slots open for tomorrow. My husband and I want to get matching tattoos and we’d love for you to do them!” 

“Haven’t you heard the whole thing about couples tattoos?” Louis asks skeptically, attempting to talk Kurt out of the idea.

Luckily, Kurt’s prepared for this. “I have, but Blaine and I aren’t ones to believe in that type of thing. I truly believe he's the one for me, and we’d both love to have a piece of each other on the other person’s body.” Kurt replies with a soft smile.

“Alright, if you say so. What were you thinking of getting?” 

“Just the word ‘Courage.’ in each other’s handwriting. Is that something you’d be okay with doing?” Remembering that tattoo artists can refuse to do the tattoo if they didn’t like the idea.

“Aww, that sounds great, I’d love to do that! Unfortunately, I’m all booked up this week and part of next week, so how does next Tuesday at 4:30 sound?”

“That’s great!” Kurt says after mentally checking to see whether or not they had classes at that time, which thankfully, they didn’t.

“Alright, I’ll see you then, just remember to spell it right this time,” Louis teases.

“Haha. Very funny,” Kurt deadpans, not wanting to think about that night of attempted rebellion. 

“I’m sorry, it was right there! I’ll see you then, Kurt, have a good day! Make sure to get a good night’s rest, a big breakfast and good lunch the day of, and oh! No drinking the day before or the day of.” Louis advises.

“Got it,” Kurt says, making a mental list. “I’ll see you Wednesday, bye Louis!”

“See you Wednesday, Bye Kurt!”

****

“Oh my god, Kurt, I didn’t think this through, what if Louis doesn’t like me? What if it hurts? What if you hate the tattoo you get?” Blaine asks nervously, his hands and voice shaking as he and Kurt stopped in front of the tattoo shop.

Kurt stops in front of him, taking his hands and looking into his eyes. “Hey, hey, don’t worry, we don't have to do it today if you don’t want to. I can call Louis and reschedule.”

“No, no, I want to do it today. I’m just really nervous and overthinking like always.”

“It’ll be okay, Louis is a great guy, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll like you, And I’m sorry to say this, but it’s a needle repeatedly stabbing ink into your skin, it’s gonna hurt,” Kurt says with a chuckle. “But I’ll be there with you to hold your hand and give you encouraging words if you need them. I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”

Blaine squeezes Kurt’s hands, pulling him in for a quick kiss. “Okay, I’m ready, let's do this!” he says, trying to psyche himself up while opening the door of the shop and holding it open for Kurt.

“Kurt, hey! How’ve you been!?” Louis greets at the counter as he makes his way over and pulls Kurt into a hug.

“I’ve been good, I’m looking forward to today. This is Blaine, my husband,” Kurt says, putting his arm around Blaine’s waist to try to steady him as he’s visibly shaking.

” Blaine! It’s so good to finally meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you! How’re you feelin’ about getting something permanently inked on to your body forever?” Louis asks, shaking Blaine’s hand.

“I’m actually kinda excited, it’s just the pain that worries me,” Blaine says, stuffing his hands into his pocket to hide their shaking. 

“Oh, it's not that bad. I mean, look at me!” Louis says, displaying his arms that are filled to the brim with tattoos.

He’s right, Blaine thinks. If people have tattoos all over their bodies, it can’t be that bad, right?

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, I’m ready." Blaine chuckles, some of the fear leaving his body after meeting Louis and realizing that he’s a pretty nice guy.

“Great! I’ll need you both to fill out these consent forms and display your ID, but after that, we should be ready to go! Which one of you wants to go first?” Louis asks, his eyes shifting between them.

“I’ll go,” Blaine replies, the rest of his body moving faster than his brain. Before his brain can catch up, he’s already taking his license out of his wallet.

“Are you sure? I can go first if you want.” Kurt asks as Louis hands both of them the forms on clipboards and two pens.

“Yeah, I mean, how bad could it be? People get tattoos all the time.” Blaine says, trying to convince himself to go through with the procedure. 

“Alright, if you say so,” Kurt replies, taking out his license and handing Blaine a clipboard with the forms attached and a pen. 

As he and Kurt fill out the forms, his nerves surprisingly start to turn into excitement. He’s happy that he’s found someone he trusts as much as Kurt to do something like this with, and that he’ll have a piece of his soulmate with him at all times.

After they finish the forms, Louis hands them some paper and tells them to start writing what they wanted to be tattooed while he sets up his station, made up of a tattooing chair, a table for his supplies, a desk for him to draw on, and a chair for a guest. It takes a while for both of them to settle on versions they like for the other, and they promised each other not to show the other the design, and not to look at it while they’re being tattooed so the final product could be a surprise. 

“Okay, Blaine, are you ready?” Louis asks, leading him and Blaine over to his station. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” He replies. 

“Okay, so where do you want it, and do you want it in another color besides black?”

“On my left arm, on the inside of my elbow, and black is great. I want it to last as long as possible, Blaine responds, settling into the chair. That way he can hide it when he’s performing but it can be visible enough for him to look down at it whenever he needs an extra bit of encouragement. 

“Awesome. Where do you want yours, Kurt?”

“I wanna go on the side of my right wrist below my thumb, and I also want it in black,” Kurt says, grabbing the seat next to Louis’ desk and positioning it on Blaine’s right side, just in case his husband needed to hold his hand. 

“So what made you both want to get this tattoo, specifically this word?” Louis asks as he puts his gloves on and cleans and shaves the spot on Blaine’s arm where he’ll be tattooing. 

“It started even before we got together in high school. Kurt and I were both in pretty dark places, him being bullied for being gay and me still trying to accept my sexuality during his junior year and my sophomore year, and I would text him ‘Courage’ regularly to remind him to continue to be himself unapologetically despite the adversity.” Blaine answers, taking Kurt’s hand.

“After Blaine did it initially, I started texting it back when I learned that he was still struggling with trying to accept himself, and it sort of stuck since then. We always say it or text it to each other when we know the other person is feeling anxious or scared. I feel like having that word on my skin forever, especially in Blaine’s handwriting, could serve as a constant reminder from him to be unapologetic about who I am.” Kurt adds, lifting Blaine’s hand and kissing his wedding band. 

“You guys are honestly adorable. I’d love to do this with my wife but she's terrified of needles.” Louis says as he applies the stencil with the design to Blaine’s arm.

“Hell yeah, this is gonna look great,” Louis says as he pulls the transfer paper off of Blaine’s arm. “Kurt, what do you think?” he asks, remembering that they both wanted it to be a surprise.

Kurt looks over and sees the design, and is shocked by how identical it looks to the version he wrote on the paper. “Oh my god, Blaine, this is so good, you’re gonna love it.” He says to Blaine, whose head was turned away so he didn’t ruin the surprise. 

“I’m sure I will,” Blaine says, squeezing Kurt’s hand.

“I’m glad you like it, now all we gotta do is actually tattoo you!” Louis says, turning the tattoo machine on and dipping the needle in black ink.

“I’m ready!” Blaine says as he braces himself for the pain that’s about to come. 

The process lasts about thirty minutes, and it surprisingly doesn’t hurt as much as Blaine thought it would. He would probably compare it to getting a flu shot over and over again, or someone grazing over your skin with a hot needle. He quickly eats his words, however, as the pain gets worse and worse. By the time Louis finishes, he’s gritting his teeth and gripping Kut’s hand so hard that he ends up leaving little crescent-shaped indents from his nails digging into his husband’s skin. Just as the pain becomes unbearable, Louis tells him he’s done and to look at his new tattoo in the large mirror across the room. 

Blaine gets up and walks over to the mirror, and as soon as he lays his eyes on his arm, he feels tears streaming down his face. 

Kurt’s tall and messy, but still elegant cursive decorates his inner forearm, spelling ‘Courage.’.

“Oh my god, I love it so much,” Blaine remarks as he moves his arm back and forth, gazing into the mirror. 

“I’m so happy you like it. I can’t wait to get mine,” Kurt says, resting his head on his husband's shoulder and looking him in the eyes through the mirror and he wraps his arms around his waist. 

“I love it so much, Louis, you did awesome!” Blaine says, still staring at his reflection and sniffling, wiping the tears from his eyes. 

“Thanks, man, I’m glad to hear that,” Louis says as he begins to clean up his station and gets ready to tattoo Kurt.

“I’ve just gotta get situated and sanitize everything before we can start with you, Kurt, so it’ll take a few minutes. You and Blaine can take a drink from the fridge behind the counter if you want and take a seat in the waiting area while I clean up.” Louis explains while wrapping Blaine’s arm in Saniderm.

****

“You’re up, Hummel,” Louis calls after about twenty minutes of them waiting.

“So I noticed you didn’t have your tongue piercing in. What happened to it?” Louis asks as Kurt and Blaine take their respective seats.

“Well it was cool at first and it healed nicely, but I just realized it wasn’t really my style. But Blaine really liked it though,” Kurt responds, looking at Blaine smugly and squeezing his hand.

Blaine tries to pretend he never heard his husband’s comment and buries his head in Kurt's shoulder, trying to keep himself from blushing.

While Louis works on Kurt, he asks the couple about their relationship. They tell him as much as they can in the thirty minutes it takes for Louis to tattoo Kurt. They talk about everything from them being high school sweethearts to not knowing about their wedding until twenty minutes before it was supposed to happen. They try not to focus on their time apart, as they’re still sore spots for them, but thankfully, Louis fills the rest of the time talking about his wife and how they met. 

For Kurt, the pain of getting tattooed wasn’t nearly as bad as it was for Blaine, mostly because he just naturally had a higher pain tolerance and also because he’d already gotten tattooed before. He would probably compare it to a really long cat scratch, but slightly more painful. What he found hurt the most was when Louis would wipe over the newly tattooed skin with a paper towel to get the excess ink off- that felt like sandpaper on his skin. Just as it started to get so painful to where he was squeezing Blaine’s hand and gritting his teeth, Louis announced that he was done.

“Okay, Kurt, I’m done! Get up and go look in the mirror!”

Up until now, Kurt had been doing just fine, but he got up from his seat too quickly and all the blood rushed to his head, making him light-headed and his knees wobble. Thankfully, like always, Blaine was there to catch him and lead him across the room to the mirror. 

His eyes filled with tears as soon as he looked down and saw it. His husband’s round and elegant but slightly messy cursive slanted to the right on his arm, the dark ink contrasting with his pale skin. Quickly, he was brought back by his husband’s worried rambling.

“I’m sorry if it looks weird, I know my handwriting’s pretty bad so I wanted to make it good and-” Blaine says, standing behind Kurt with his hands on his partner’s shoulders, worried at the silence.

“Hey, it's okay. It's beautiful. I love it so much,” Kurt cuts him off, turning to Blaine and taking his hands. 

“Are you sure? I mean, it's kinda late to change your mind about it but still.”

“I’m sure. You know I’ve always loved your penmanship. I’m sorry about the silence, I guess I kinda zoned out. I’m just really happy I can carry around a piece of you on my body forever.” Kurt reassures him with a soft smile and a firm squeeze of his hands. 

“I am too. I’m really glad that you like it,” Blaine says, pulling Kurt into a hug.

After a minute or two, they pulled away from each other after remembering there was another person in the room.

“Thank you so much, Louis, you did a great job,” Kurt says as Blaine glances over at him and nods his head in agreement. 

“It was my pleasure. You and Blaine did great!” Louis responds while wrapping the Saniderm around Kurt’s wrist. 

“Would you mind taking a photo of our tattoos? I wanna post it on Instagram and show all my friends. I could tag you and the studio too if you’d like.”

“Of course, I’d love that!” Louis says as Kurt hands over the phone with the camera app already open. 

Louis takes the picture and Kurt sends it to Blaine to post on his profile. He posts it, captioning it with "“A little piece of B with me wherever I go <3"" and Blaine posts the same thing, captioning it with Kurt’s initial.

They thank Louis again, and pay him, leaving a large tip. They walk out of the shop hand in hand, both with constant and comforting reminders from each other to have courage, no matter what. 

****

Later that night, after Blaine had fallen asleep, Kurt checks his phone and is welcomed with a barrage of texts and Instagram comments from his friends and former teammates, mostly along the lines of:

 **Rachel** : OMG THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER I CANT  
**Mercedes** : Omg Blaine told me that he was thinking about asking to do this with you!! They look so good!!  
**Sam** : my two best buds are so cute wHOS CUTTING ONIONS  
**Santana** : let's just hope y’all don't fuck up fdsjflasd. Jk love y’all, they’re rly cute <3

Kurt smiles to himself, making a mental note to respond to all of them in the morning, wanting to step away from technology to have a quiet night with his husband.

He stares at his wrist as he falls asleep, his heart bursting at the seams with love and admiration for a certain Blaine Devon Anderson.

**Tracy**  
“Hey Trace! You ready for your appointment?” Louis, Tracy’s regular tattoo artist and family friend of the Anderson-Hummels calls as she pulls open the front door.

She’d made an appointment with Louis for a tattoo over the phone a few weeks ago while away at college for the start of Christmas break, telling him her idea for her design and sending him the deposit a few weeks prior, excitedly waiting to see what he’d drawn up in the meantime.

“I’ve been good, I’m so excited to see what you’ve drawn up for me!” She says to Louis, who’d known her since she was a baby. He’d been the one to pierce her ears when she was nine, pierce her nose when she was eighteen, and give her her first and only two tattoos, her favorite number, 6, on the knuckle of her pointer finger and a portrait of Athena, her favorite goddess on her ribs. 

She wanted to dedicate her third and biggest piece thus far to her family, the most important thing in the world to her. She’d seen hundreds and hundreds of posts on Pinterest when researching ideas and loved the look of shoulder and upper arm tattoos, so she told Louis this and he loved the idea.

“So am I, I think you’re really gonna love it,” Louis responds, leading Tracy over to his drawing desk and unlocking his iPad, scrolling through the dozens of sketches he’d finished after hers.

“Here it is, and I know I always tell you this before I show you a sketch, but if you don’t like it, that’s totally fine, this shit’s gonna be on your body forever and I’m more than willing to change anything you don’t like.” Louis finishes nervously as he hands her the tablet.

“Oh come on, Louis, you know I love everything you make!” Tracy says as she takes the iPad. This sketch was no different. She fell in love with it as soon as she laid eyes on it, and she knew immediately that her family was going to love it too.

“Oh my god, Louis, you’ve outdone yourself yet again. Hurry up and put this on my body!” She exclaims, blinking back the tears of joy in her eyes. 

Louis laughs, glad that Tracy took to the sketch so quickly. Tracy was one of his favorite customers, so he made sure to put extra thought and care into the design. “I can’t wait to tattoo it! Let me get you the consent forms,” he says as Tracy opens her wallet to take out her driver’s license to confirm her age. 

She filled out the forms in the waiting area, the little nerves she had left turning into excitement. Ever since getting her first one when she was nineteen, tattoos had become the biggest vice for her, aside from makeup and books. She was fascinated with the art and loved how they looked on herself. She really admired how tattoo artists dedicated their life to their craft and would’ve become one if she hadn’t taken an interest in mental health and gone on to study psychology in college. 

Tracy settles in the tattooing chair, taking off her shirt and untying the strap of her bikini top on her left side to give Louis better access to her shoulder. 

The session lasts about six hours, and both she and Louis are exhausted by the time it’s over. They spend the first few hours making light conversation about Tracy’s family and how she’s doing at college and Louis’s family and how the shop is performing, but it lessens as the session progresses as Louis starts shading and adding details, wanting to focus on making the piece look the best he can. She spends the rest of the session watching YouTube videos and listening to music to get her mind off the pain, and towards the end of the session as the tattoo gets more and more painful she thanks God that she has the best pain tolerance out of her entire family. 

After the session was over, she got up out of her chair and crossed the room to look in the mirror. She started tearing up as soon as she saw the piece; she loved her family with all her heart and having a piece of them with her at all times meant the world to her. 

She thanked Louis about five times, paid and tipped him, and headed off to her dads’ house for dinner. 

As she drove, she found herself getting more and more nervous. What if her dads and siblings didn’t like it? What if the grand gesture made them feel uncomfortable? These thoughts kept swimming in her head until she actually revealed it, but she knew that her dads couldn’t be mad at her since they had multiple tattoos themselves, and this piece wasn’t her first one by a long shot.

As she opened the front door, she was immediately met with the pleasant smell of garlic bread and chicken parmesan, her and her Pops’s favorite. 

Kurt was setting the table when she entered the house and quickly went over to greet her and give her a hug. She flinched as her dad wrapped his arms around her, the pressure only further irritating his skin, but gritted her teeth and stuck it out, determined to make the tattoo a surprise. 

She went upstairs to shower and change into her pajamas and by the time she came back down in a tank top and sweats, her siblings were lounging on the couch, waiting for Blaine to finish dinner. 

“Hey Trace, I didn’t hear you come in? How was your- what’s on your shoulder?” Audrey asks, grabbing the attention of everyone in the house. 

“Uh, I may have made an appointment with Louis a while back and I may have sorta gotten a tattoo while I was out,” She says, settling down on the couch next to her sister. 

“Oooh let us see!” Finn said as everyone made their way over to her. Tugging the sleeve of her left shoulder, she showed off her new ink.

The tattoo went from her collarbone to her shoulder and made its way down to her upper back and arm. Lilys of the Valley, Sweet Peas, Snowdrops, and Peonies decorated Tracy’s shoulder in black and grey, the linework steady and dark and the details and shading making the flowers look like they were blooming off of her body. 

“Tracy,” Blaine starts. “It’s beautiful.”

Kurt nods in agreement. “It really is, this might be Louis’s best work yet. Is there any significance to the flowers you chose?”

“Yeah, actually,” she starts, trying to gauge her family’s reaction. “Each flower corresponds to each of your birth months.” She says as she gestures to them. “The Lily of the Valley is the May flower for dad, The Sweet Pea is the April flower for Pops, the Snowdrop is the January flower for Finn, and the Peony is the November flower for Audrey.”

There’s silence for a few moments as everyone in her family tries to register what she just said. She wasn’t one for grand gestures or open displays of emotion, so this was pretty out of the ordinary for her. 

“You guys are the most important things to me, and I’ve been wanting to have a piece of all of you on my body for a long time,” Tracy says, noticing the tears building in her parents’ eyes. 

“That’s beautiful, honey. I can’t believe you’d do something like this, but I love it so much,” Kurt says, pulling her into a hug, being careful with her shoulder, and kissing the top of her head. 

“It really is. I love how Louis combined all the flowers into a sort of bouquet. The linework, the shading, the details; it's awesome.“ Blaine agrees, following his husband's lead and giving his eldest daughter a hug and a kiss of his own. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Finn agrees, taking a seat next to Tracy. “I didn’t even know birth flowers were a thing, and mine looks awesome!”

“I didn’t know either until a few months ago when I was talking to Alison, my roommate about wanting a new piece. She suggested I look into birth flowers and I fell in love with the idea.” Tracy answered, amused at her brother’s comment. 

“Tracy,” Audrey starts, her voice thick with emotion. “This is just about the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. I love it.” She says as she gives her sister a bone-crushing hug. Out of everyone in the family, Audrey was probably the most emotional, so it didn’t surprise Tracy that she would start crying. 

“Of course, you’re my sister, and I wanted to have a piece of you with me at all times,” Tracy replies, returning the hug and wiping the tears from her sister’s cheeks while chuckling.

“Promise me that if I ever wanna get a tattoo or another piercing that you’ll take me?” Audrey asks.

“Of course. I have hella ideas on my Pinterest board if you need inspo.”

“Alright,” Kurt says, laughing wetly. “That’s enough tears for tonight,” he says, wiping the small tears away from his cheeks. “Let’s eat!” 

“So what’ll you do if one of us did something messed up?” Finn asks as they all make their way to the dining room, earning an amused yet disapproving glare from Blaine.

“Seriously dude? I get a super meaningful and emotional tattoo that’s partially dedicated to you, and that’s what you think of?” Tracy asks with a laugh as she grabs a bottle of water from the fridge.

“I’m sorry, I was just curious! I love the tattoo though, it’s really sweet,” he says, trying to save himself.

“But seriously, what would you do?”

Tracy and he stare at each other dead in the eyes, trying not to bust up from laughter.

“Remove it?” Finn asks, taking a seat next to Tracy.

“I mean, if one of you guys did something like kill someone, probably,” Tracy forces out, her and Finn finally losing control of themselves and cracking up.

As they eat dinner and make conversation amongst themselves, she thinks that her family is crazy and unconventional as hell, but she knows she wouldn’t trade them for the world.

 **Finn**  
Finn’s sitting with his dad on the shore of the Massachusetts coast next to Blaine, watching Kurt, Audrey, and Tracy wade through the crystal blue water of Race Point Beach, making their way back to the sand for lunch. It was the second day of the annual Anderhummel summer beach trip to Provincetown, the place where Kurt and Blaine had their Honeymoon, and Finn was spending all his time relaxing after finishing his first year of college.

Finn was reading a book while laying on his side, with Blaine at his left, preparing a meal of fruit salad and ham and cheese sandwiches. He was gazing off into the ocean while spreading mayo on Audrey’s sandwich when he glanced over at Finn and caught sight of the tattoo, doing a double-take, seeing the ‘VI.XXVIII.MCMLXIX’ in black across Finn’s his right trap above his collarbone.

“Finn?” Blaine asks as Kurt, Audrey, and Tracy make their way over to their towels and start preparing for lunch. “Is that a tattoo?” He points to Finn’s shoulder as everyone looks in his direction.

“Yeah? I got it a few weeks ago from Louis right before I left for college, I’m sorry I forgot to mention it. Is that okay?” Finn asks, afraid of his Pops’s response, sitting up to help himself to some fruit salad.

“No no, don’t apologize,” Kurt says, resting a hand on his son’s knee. “I know you hate it when I say this, but you’re an adult now! It’s your body and you can do whatever you want with it, just as long as you’re not hurting anyone or yourself too much.” He adds the last part, remembering the pain involved in getting tattooed. “Besides, your father and I can’t even really be mad since we have some ourselves.” He chuckles.

“Thanks, Dad, that means a lot,” Finn says, extremely relieved as he takes a sip of his lemonade. 

“Wow, I didn’t even notice it. What does it mean? If you don’t mind me asking,” Audrey says, being the curious person she is. 

“It’s the date of the start of the Stonewall Riots, June 28, 1969. I really wanted to get a pride tattoo ever since I came out as bi, but I kept putting it off because I never had an idea about what to get until I learned about Stonewall in my history class. It’s one of the most important dates in LGBT history, and I want to commemorate that and show the gratitude and pride I have toward every person, past and present, that fought for the rights that I have that now allow me to be myself,” Finn says, tracing the roman numerals with his pointer finger as he talks. 

“That’s really sweet of you, Finn. I think a tattoo is a great way to show pride and gratitude,” Tracy says, pointing her fork at her brother. “I’ve been wanting to get a pride tattoo for a while, but I’m still deciding on a design, you think you could help me out with that when we get back to the hotel?” Tracy asks, opening her can of Sprite.

“Sure, I have some ideas on my Pinterest board that I think are pretty cool.”

“How am I the only one who doesn’t have any body mods besides my ear piercings?” Audrey whines, jealous of her older siblings. 

“Well, one, you’re not old enough, and two, you almost passed out when you got your lobes done with Louis,” Tracy says teasingly as she takes a bite of her sandwich.

“Oh whatever, at least I don’t have a weird irrational fear of birds!” Audrey argues, playfully pushing her sister’s shoulder.

“Not you making fun of her fear of birds when you can’t watch "“Grey’s Anatomy”" without passing out,” Finn retorts, taking part in his and Tracy’s favorite pastime of making fun of their younger sister.

Kurt and Blaine look on at their kids, not wanting to get in the way of this healthy sibling bickering. It reminded Kurt and Blaine of the times they’d bickered with Finn and Cooper respectively. 

They’re both glad that they raised their children to be proud of who they are, and that they’ve taken in interest in an art like tattooing. They’re proud that Finn and Audrey are proud enough of their identities that they want to honor their histories on their bodies forever. 

Kurt turns to his husband of now almost thirty years and takes his hand.

“We did pretty good, didn’t we?” He asks, rubbing Blaine’s wedding band, scratched and worn, but the metal still glistening the afternoon sun.

Blaine looks back at him with as much, if not more love than they had for each other on their wedding day.

“I think we did.” He says as he leans in to kiss Kurt’s cheek and continues on with his lunch. 

**Audrey**  
“Audrey, are you sure you wanna do this? I know how you feel about needles,” Blaine asks as he pulls open the door of Blackpoint Tattoos and Piercings and holds it open for his husband and youngest daughter.

“No, I want to! I just wanna be able to wear earrings.” Audrey replies, trying to shake the nerves out of her as she walks through the door. It was her eleventh birthday, and all she’d said she wanted was to get her ears pierced. She loved earrings but was tired of wearing magnetic or stick-on ones. 

Truthfully, she’s terrified. She’d always had a thing with needles and blood. Something about them just freaked out; she couldn’t even watch hospital dramas without having to fight the urge to pass out. As she walked through the door, she kind of wished that her dads would’ve gotten her ears pierced as a baby so she wouldn’t have to remember the pain. 

Looking back at this moment, she was thankful that they didn’t. Her dads saw the importance of giving their children the ability to make their own decisions when it came to how they wanted to express themselves, so they waited for their children to approach them with questions about tattoos and piercings. 

As soon as she enters the shop, she and her dads are greeted by a large man with dark slicked-back hair, clad in a white and grey flannel with a white shirt underneath and baggy blue jeans.

“Louis, how are you doing?” Kurt asks as he shakes his hand, happy to see an old friend.

“Hey Kurt, hey Blaine, long time no see! What can I do for you guys today?”

“Well, we’re actually not here for us,” Blaine says. “Audrey here’s been dying to get her ears pierced, and since it's her birthday, we thought ‘why not’?” He states as he gestures to his daughter. 

“Audrey, hi! I’ve been dying to meet you! How are you feeling about getting your first piercings?” Louis asks with a warm and genuine smile as he shakes her hand.

“I’m okay. I don’t like needles or pain, but I just wanna be able to wear earrings that aren’t magnetic or stick-on.”

“Don’t be worried about the pain. Have you ever been stung by a bee?”

Audrey nods.

“It’s like that, but just a little bit worse. It’ll be super quick, you won’t even notice until after I’ve done it, I promise. I remember when your sister came in to get hers pierced, and she had such a great time that she came back to do it again and again! Just make sure to relax and take deep breaths, alright?” Louis finishes.

****

She waits patiently while Blaine fills out the forms and Kurt catches up with Louis, giving him her birth certificate and both his and his husbands’ licenses to verify that they’re her parents.

“Alright, Audrey, are you ready?” Louis asks excitedly after he’d gotten all the information necessary.

She looks up from the spot on the ground she was staring at and nods, putting on a brave face. 

Louis leads her and her dads to his station and tells her to settle on the tattooing chair while he gets his supplies ready.

“Alright, I’m just gonna sanitize your ear lobes and mark where I’m gonna pierce so you’ll see what it looks like before I do it, okay?” Louis informs while putting on his gloves.

Audrey gives a quiet “okay” as she feels a cool gel being wiped on her left earlobe and then her right.

After Louis marks her ears with his pen and she approves the placement, he gives her a minute to psyche herself up.

“Pops, would it be okay if you held my hand while he does it?” Audrey asks, trying her best not to sound sacred.

“Of course,” Blaine says with a warm smile as he takes her hand. 

The left ear isn’t bad at all, Audrey barely even feels anything and tries her best to avoid looking at the needle. 

The same can’t be said for the right ear, though. After Louis pierces the skin, it starts to bleed more than usual. Audrey catches sight of her own blood, immediately getting light-headed and nauseous and wanting nothing more than to lay down.

She tries to get up and walk it off after Louis finishes, but her legs wobble and almost give out beneath her. Luckily, Kurt is there to catch her and position her back on the chair.

“Oh my god, are you alright?” Blaine asks worriedly, resting his hand on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, I saw the blood and my head felt a little funny.”

“Don’t worry, Audrey, this reaction is totally normal,” Louis says quickly. “Just lie down and I’ll be back with a juice box just in case it was low blood sugar.”

He returns a few moments later with a box of apple juice and she takes it gratefully, gulping it down. After drinking the entire thing, she feels good enough to walk.

She makes her way over to the mirror and looks at her reflection, admiring the small studs in her ears. 

“Thank you so much, Louis! I can’t wait to finally wear real earrings!” Audrey exclaims.

“Of course, kiddo, you did great for your first time!”

She sits in the waiting room for a few minutes while her dads pay and tip Louis, bidding him farewell.

Her, Kurt, and Blaine walk out of the tattoo and piercing shop a few minutes later, Audrey deciding that she'll probably never get another body mod.

**Author's Note:**

> reference for Kurt's second tattoo placement: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/745838388281577754/?nic_v2=1a5o5lHfD
> 
> reference for Blaine's tattoo placement: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/503629170834933145/?nic_v2=1a5o5lHfD
> 
> Reference for Tracy's tattoo: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/769060073858126159/?nic_v2=1a5o5lHfD
> 
> Reference for Finn's tattoo placement: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/281545414193567112/?nic_v2=1a5o5lHfD
> 
> Thank y'all so much for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting! Interacting with you guys makes my heart so happy and it never fails to make my day. Feel free to comment or dm me (my twitter handle is @uniturts) with any ideas you may have for future fics that you'd want me to write or just to talk (I need friends lol)!


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